Spaghetti Carbonara

Experimented with this baby last week. Turned out great, the family units nommed it. I was going by a recipe that didn't give quantities, which drove me a little insane to be honest, but I tried to make this easier on you. Sides... I went with roasted chicken thighs and guilt leaves. ;-/

1/4 cup chopped fresh Parsley
2 slices Pepper Bacon or Pancetta
3 or 4 cloves of chopped fresh Garlic
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
½ cup White Wine (Chardonnay)
1 pound Spaghetti Pasta
½ cup Eggs or substitute
¾ cup Shredded Parmesan
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
Salt to taste

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil. Meanwhile, crack eggs into a large bowl and beat lightly. Finely shred or grate cheese, add 1/2 cup to eggs, and set the rest aside. Finely chop parsley and add to eggs. Add pepper and whisk to combine well. Set aside.

2. Cut pancetta or bacon into 1/4-in.-thick slices, peel and chop garlic, and set both aside. Heat olive oil in a small frying pan over medium-high heat. Add pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until it starts to brown. Add garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine and cook until liquid is reduced by about half. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. When water boils, add salt and spaghetti. Boil pasta until it is tender to the bite. Drain well and immediately pour pasta into bowl with egg mixture. Toss to thoroughly coat pasta with egg mixture (the heat from the pasta will partly cook the egg and melt the cheese). Pour pancetta mixture on top of pasta and toss to combine thoroughly. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and pepper to taste.

Variations:
Peas, please: Add 3/4 cup frozen peas to the egg mixture.
Add radicchio: Finely shred 1 small head radicchio and cook with the pancetta.
Pick basil: Substitute 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves for the parsley.
Spice it up: Add 1/2 tsp. red chile flakes with the garlic.
Change the cheese: Substitute other hard, aged cheese (such as asiago, pecorino, or aged gouda) for the parmesan.
Go for whole grain: Try using whole-wheat spaghetti (the assertive, rich flavors of this dish will hold up to a heartier pasta beautifully).

Note: The heat from the hot pasta partly cooks the eggs. If you are concerned about eating raw or undercooked eggs, use 1/2 cup pasteurized eggs in lieu of fresh.

Hope it helps!

-W

Easy Baked Penne with Ricotta and Basil

Another recent one, enjoy!

I just winged it but it came out great, paired it with the freezer garlic bread that I love Oh-so much and is oh-so bad for me. You know the one. I like my baked pasta to be on the saucy side instead of dry especially for the leftovers to be good, if you like dry feel free to add less.

This is what I did.

Ingredients

1 pound penne pasta
1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
½ teaspoon dried basil
1 jar marinara pasta sauce
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¾ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

I had some extra things hanging around...
1 pound cooked hamburger meat (I added onions and Italian seasoning)
1 small jar of alfredo sauce
¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons fresh chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cook penne according to directions on package, then drain and set aside to let cool for 5 minutes.

Cook or reheat the hamburger meat how you like, then add the pasta sauce and set aside.

Combine the ricotta cheese, dried basil, and pepper in a large bowl. I added the parmesan and parsley I had left over as well, leaving some cheese for the top. Add part of the jar of alfredo and 1 ½ cups of the pasta sauce. Mix the rest of the alfredo into the meat sauce.

Transfer pasta to bowl with cheese mixture and toss gently to coat. Spread ½ cup of the remaining pasta sauce over the bottom of a 7-x11-inch baking dish. Spoon pasta mixture into dish and spread out evenly. Drizzle remaining sauce over the top, sprinkle with cheese and bake until golden brown and hot throughout, about 30 minutes.

Ian was getting a little hangry during the "photo shoot". He loved it and ate a plate of seconds, his man-brain style of compliment. :)

Hope it helps!

-W

BBQ Pulled Pork in the slow cooker

Hey Y'all!

I make this one all the time but the other night I caught some pictures of it. It is SUPER easy and cheap and is quickly becoming one of my favorite go-to things. Pair with the cole slaw kit from the produce section and some Hawaiian rolls. Just follow those directions, but definitely stick to 8 hours on low. High comes out way too tough. Trust me, it's soooo good. This time I added a red onion and an apple to the bottom. Great but optional. I also trimmed a lot of the fat off, this thing was FATTY and they always come out juicy so do it, don't worry about it drying out.

http://www.mccormick.com/Recipes/Main-Dishes/Slow-Cookers-BBQ-Pulled-Pork

( I am not affiliated, sponsored, or bribed in any way. Promise. )

Another Tip: Use those crock liners. Best. Thing. Ever.

Baked fish with Herb Crust

Howdy!

Tonight's adventure involves one of my favorite youtubers, Titli. Love her name too. ;)

Here is her recipe and her website with a video. She is awesome!

Ingredients

• 2 x 150 g (5 oz) fish fillets (cod, haddock, panga, salmon…)
• 30 g (1 oz) breadcrumbs
• 1 tomato, finely diced
• 1 tbsp fresh dill
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander (Cilantro)
• 1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
• 1 tbsp low-fat cream cheese (I used fat-free)

Instructions

1. Mix together all the ingredients (except the fish!) in a bowl to make a thick creamy paste.
2. Line a baking tray with aluminium foil and place the fillets skin-side down in the tray. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Spoon the herb paste onto the fillets and press it down to make sure it sticks. Bake in the oven at 180°C for 20 minutes.

Titli’s Tips

Just about any meaty fish will be great for this dish. You can change the herbs to match you own personal taste.

Serve with a few new potatoes and steamed or boiled vegetables of your choice.

http://titlisbusykitchen.com/recipe/baked-fish-with-herb-crust

I cooked mine for 20 minutes at 360º (convection). She always says fan oven, love it. I think I went overboard on the herbs, and I couldn't find Dill so mine is dried. This is how mine turned out.  

NOTE: Do not add salt to the topping, I made my too salty. The lemon and the cream cheese are enough, trust me.  It was really tasty though!

Before cooking:

The side I went with was the rest of the parsley and cilantro tossed with these baby potatoes and cooked alongside. Forgot to nab a picture before chucking it in the (gasp dirty) oven.

Final Product:

Hope it helps!

-W

Trying a new recipe for pear butter

You'll need a weekend or a couple of days at home so that you can get through all the steps. It's really easy just time consuming to get it started. Definitely read the recipe all the way through before you decide to take this on. You can use any mix of pears and flavor apple you like. This is pretty similar to my Apple butter recipe, I'll post that soon.

The stuff is really good on warm toast with butter or over cornbread or even made into a sauce for pork chops. Another way to use it is to roll it up inside of pancakes. My favorite use for this stuff is warmed up and poured over Bluebell homemade vanilla ice cream.

NOTE: It comes out really tasty, just be prepared to add more sugar. I think I will go back to using apple cider instead of vinegar next time to save on the sugar.

It goes something like this...

~5 lbs Bartlett pears
~3 1/2 lbs golden apple pears
4-5 crisp pink apples
1 medium navel orange
2 cups good apple cider vinegar with the mother
1/4-1/2 C lemon juice, bottled or fresh
6-8 C sugar, to taste
½ t nutmeg, fresh is better
1 T cinnamon, Heaping
1 t allspice
A pinch of salt
10-12 half-pint jars, lids, & canner
Lots of water
Very large mixing bowl
7-8 quart crockpot
Stick blender

Canning utensils and a stirring spoon

1. Peel, core, and rough cut a butt load of pears and apples. Once they are cut, put them into a very big bowl of acidulated water, meaning add a couple of glugs of the lemon juice to the water.

2. Pour the Apple cider vinegar and juice the orange into the empty crockpot. 

Optional, not optional: Once that mess is done, make potpourri by placing all of the peels and cores into a pot with water and cinnamon on the stove on low.

3. Place all of the pears and apples, drained, into the crock pot on high for one hour. Add about 1 cup of the juicy water. After one hour, turn it to low and let it cook overnight. Have dinner. 

4. In the morning, stir it, stick blend it until it's smooth, and then taste it. This is where you decide how sweet it's going to be. Add all of the spices then add as much sugar as you think it will need and remember it's going to cook down and concentrate. I added 6 cups of sugar because mine was very tart and tasted it again in about four hours, at which point I decided it was still tart and added two more cups.

5. Once it's cooked down to the consistency you like, this is where we get rolling. Add your canner to the stove filled with water to the appropriate line for the jars you're going to use and crank it up to high to get it boiling. Add the jars to the water to get them sanitized. You can also run them through the dishwasher by themselves. Ball says you no longer have to warm up the lids but I still do just in case.

6. Once your water is near the boil, set the crock pot to high to get a little bubble going on the stuff. Use a jar funnel and a ladle and pour the hot pear butter into the jars to the bottom rim or about 1 inch of headspace. Fill all of your jars and process them in the boiling water for 10 minutes at normal elevation. Higher elevation, use 15 to 20.

7. Let them sit on the counter overnight undisturbed and in the morning wash the jars, remove the rims, and label them. If you have any jars that did not form a seal, meaning you can pop the tab on the top, place that jar in the fridge and eat it! The sealed jars last on the shelf for one year. The fridge jars last only about a month or as soon as your family eats it all, whichever comes first.

Enjoy!

Steak and Boston Bibb with Tiramisu

Working lunch today but I thought I'd show y'all what it was. I'm hoping to send all food porn to this blog instead of to the face boogers. $10, not too shabby. ツ

Steak and Boston Bibb
Marinated and grilled Niman Ranch never-ever beef bavette steak topped with chimichurri, over butter lettuce with roasted Hatch chilies, roasted red onions, shaved manchego cheese, and red wine vinaigrette. 

Contains: garlic, shallots, fresh herbs, lemon juice and zest, lime juice and zest, red pepper flakes, and canola oil.

Tiramisu
Contains: wheat flour, eggs, sugar, espresso, Kahlua liqueur, coffee extract (alcohol), mascarpone, cream, vanilla beans, Belcolade 62% chocolate, milk, cocoa powder, baking soda, and buttermilk.